dirty little piggies [gran/quest]

Gran laughed at the kid and spun her mace in her hand, "What's the matter, bucko? Got a headache?"

She set the end of the cane against the ground and held the tip of it in her palm. For all purposes, it almost looked like a walking stick, only bigger. And more terrifying. She leaned against it and bent her back comically, imitating how most people would view an old lady like herself. She raised her free hand to point shakily at the kid, a dry cackle rising from her vocal chords.

"I said it would be an easy quest for me," Gran gave him a crooked smile and shrugged, "I never said some noob like you could do it proper."

She licked her lips and stared at the kid for a moment. She wasn't entirely certain as to why she had approached him, but she knew that she was thoroughly going to enjoy watching him flail about without a chance. She remained in her mock old lady stance and chortled a bit. Looking out over the farmer's field, she wondered exactly what the girl she had fought these hogs with the first time would think of this loser. And then, she saw one of the boars taking a bit of interest in them. They weren't quite in the aggro range just yet, but they were close enough that the mobs would look their way and snort.

Gran stood there, leaning against her cane-shaped weapon, an evil grin plastered to her face. This kid had guts, sure, but he was going to get himself killed at this rate. She clicked her tongue as he initiated combat with the boar. He dodged the first attack. Well, he wasn't a complete moron, at least. The boar's charge ended right in front of Gran, and she looked the mob straight in the eyes as her cloak billowed behind her from the wind that came off the halted attack. She almost wanted to hit the thing. However, she let it turn back around and focus its attack on the kid.

Watching the kid fumble about really made her want to fight. Every misstep made her fingers itch. She shook her head as the kid got smacked on to his ass. She nodded as he finally managed to kill the boar. He walked back over to her and she had the sudden urge to pat him on the head like a wounded puppy. She smiled instead, "You want me to show you how it's done?"

Standing up straight, Gran pulled her cane off the ground and twirled it before holding it in both hands, walking casually towards two boars in the distance, "First, you need a proper weapon, you little fruitcake."

She readied herself as both boars took their attention off the grass and focused on her. Her face grew serious as one of them charged at her, followed soon after by the other. With a huff, she swung her mace at the first one, laughing as it squealed and immediately vaporised into pixelated defeat. Bring the weapon behind her, she let it charge with a menacing green light, waiting until the last second for the second boar to be right in front of her. She launched the sword art, horizontal line of light cracking against the boar's head and shattering its body into particles of light. Flipping her cane back in her hand to use it as a pseudo-walking stick, she turned to face Icarus with an impish grin.

"Second," she continued from her earlier statement, "You need to know what you're capable of."

Gran squinted her eyes at the kid. If she had done something amazing, she would've accepted the compliment, but as it was? She knew when someone was trying to get something out of her. She wasn't against sharing her knowledge, but a little respect would carry a long way with her. She laughed a bit and shook her head at Icarus, clicking her tongue in disapproval. She whipped her mace up from the ground towards Icarus' face. With a warm smile, she felt glee as the tip of her mace hovered inches away from the kid. She tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes.

"Well then, mister 'capable of anything'," Gran flourished her mace and practically fell into a sitting position, legs crossed, "Old grandma's legs are tired now. Perhaps you can take out a couple more boars for me? Don't worry, if you get in trouble, I'll be right here."

She waved her hand to shoo the child. she wasn't just going to kill the other two boars for him, no. That would be far too easy. She would let him get himself almost killed before she would do all of the work for him. Laying her mace across her crossed legs, she placed her hands on her knees, almost as if she was meditating. And then, she started to hum an old military tune she had been remembering.

Gran closed her eyes and sighed. The kid was hopeless. She weighed her options in her mind as she watched him creep ever closer to the boars.  She could just end this now and reap the rewards. Or, she could enjoy herself as he faltered and flopped around like a fish out of water. She smiled as he aggro'd both boars he was approaching. She laughed as he ran away from them. She stood up as he ran towards her. With a sigh, Gran supposed it only made sense. She'd established herself as a good player now, and she was basically the safe zone. She stretched her arms in the air with a yawn as the boy neared her, boars following close behind. She cracked her knuckles before readying her mace.

"Fast way it is, then," she mumbled to herself, stepping to the side to allow Icarus to run past her. Her mace found itself connecting with one of the boars' jawbones. The swine shattered into shards of light as she pivoted on her heel, dragging the mace into the other mob with ease. It shattered as well, and she turned to give Icarus a pointed look, "You really shouldn't be fighting these things yet, you know. I only came out here to make sure you didn't die."

She wasn't lying, of course. She rarely lied. With a sigh, she eyed the counter on the amount of tusks they had gotten. One of those boars hadn't dropped a tusk. They were currently at four out of five. She sighed, realising the luck was pretty bad if not every boar dropped a tusk. She looked back at Icarus and laughed. There was another boar that had just spawned that was approaching them now. She put her weapon back into walking stick mode and gave Icarus a nasty smile, "Watch out behind you, dear."

"Switch is the word, yes," Gran yawned a bit and shrugged, "I mean, teamwork saves peoples' asses, doesn't it?"

She laughed a bit at pointing out that she'd saved him. She smiled as he went on to explain that he was simply impatient. Silently, she wondered if he would ever be satisfied with not being the best. People like that were dangerous. Ambition was a thing meant for kings and heroes. It was not a tool for impatient brats. She would either have to humble him up now or cut him down later. For now, though, she decided she would gauge his personality and see just how far he was willing to go.

"You gotta be careful about going too fast, though, dear," she smiled and bobbed her head a bit, "If I didn't come with you today you would've died. Not taking it slow does what for you? Like I said, you have to know what you're capable of."

She nodded as he turned to fight the boar that had spawned. Looking to her side, she wondered if she could pass the time by killing a couple of other mobs. She decided against it, though. She would only interfere if another boar joined the fight. If the kid couldn't handle another one on one fight with the boar, he wasn't fit to be in this game. She started whistling her tune again as she watched him fight.

Gran wondered what kind of tea she was going to have when she got back to town. Maybe another cup of that Earl Gray that girl had managed to whip up. She really needed to look into the cooking skill at some point. If she could manage to make her own teas and treats, she wouldn't have to rely on someone else to do it. She stretched and let out a yawn, considering all the possible mixtures that she should try out when she got the skill. Maybe she could try out some-...

Her thoughts were cut short as she watched a second boar spawn in behind Icarus. She muttered a curse under her breath and bolted off towards the mob. The boar had just taken notice of Icarus and was about to charge him when her mace connected with its rear end. It let out a squeal and dissipated. With a scowl, she looked at the quest counter. It ticked upwards as the boar's final pieces disappeared. She shot a glance over at Icarus who was struggling with his enemy. She sighed and twirled her cane-mace. She deftly stepped past him and slapped the thing with the end of her weapon, causing it to explode even without a sound.

"We're done here," Gran said concisely, turned to walk back towards the NPC that had given them the quest, "Anymore of watching you fight things is going to drive me nuts."

As she walked towards the NPC, her mind wandered a little bit. It snapped back into focus when she looked back at Icarus and saw his sword, "Kid, you really need to get a better weapon. Honestly, it's the only thing holding you back right now. That, and your overconfidence. You need to get a better sense of that, too."